Monday, February 8, 2010

I'm Betty Boop Gosh Darn It!

I was walking home from the bus with a co-worker of mine tonight and I was explaining my blog to her. I told her that I still hadn't thought of something to write about for today but that I had made a pact with myself to write everyday. She said, "Write about me!" in her adorable French-Canadian accent. It was actually perfect, because I had been thinking about writing about her the past few days anyway!

Marie-Eve is a stilt walker at Universal Studios Singapore, but really, she is a dancer and singer. I hadn't had the chance to really get to know her until the past week and a half while we have been doing the Chingay parade together. She is such an inspiration to me right now because she is so positive and excited to be working at a theme park.

As a girl who grew up in Orlando, theme park nation, I don't really get much of a thrill when I spend the day at Disney or Universal. In fact, sometimes, that is just about the last place I want to be. I've worked at Universal on and off for about 8 years now and the honeymoon is definitely over. The excitement I felt when I first got hired as Kimberley Duncan at T2-3D in Orlando has faded over the years but I know that I was genuinely over the moon when I first got that call that I was hired for the role. It was the most money I had made as an actor at that point and it was fun to have your friends and family come see you host a show with 700 something people!

When we had our first dress rehearsal on Saturday night, Marie-Eve was running all around on her stilts with her camera getting pictures with all the characters. She was just over the moon! I remember thinking, "Woah, we'll all be working together for the next 9 months! What's she so excited about?" And when we got to the end of the parade, there were a few children who came up to her and wanted a picture. She walked away towards me, with tears in her eyes. I said, "Marie, are you okay?" thinking that she had hurt herself. She said, "I'm just overwhelmed! I have always wanted to work at a theme park and be in a parade! I just can't believe it's happening!"

I'm going to try hard to remember that feeling. It seems as though it's buried deep down somewhere with all the cynicism I've piled on top of it over the years. It's my own feelings of disappointment at not being where I "want to be" as an actor yet, and my snobby theatre actress attitude that makes me feel the way I do about working at a theme park. We also haven't opened the park which means I haven't been able to interact with guests at all, so I'm forgetting why I'm here. There are tons of people who would absolutely kill to do what I do. I get to live in Asia, make my debt disappear, visit places on the other side of the world I'd never dreamed I'd get to see and make people smile all day. Heck, I'll probably end up on peoples mantles, facebook pages and photo albums for all I know. I'm a lucky girl. And thanks to Marie-Eve for reminding me of that!